Almost one out of two Italians is convinced that cancer will be defeated by 2050. It is a feeling of trust in scientific research and innovation that emerges from a survey on a representative sample of the adult population of our country, conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Janssen Italia, a pharmaceutical company of the American group Johnson & Johnson, on the occasion of World Cancer Day which is celebrated on 4 February. 47% of Italians think that in 24 years it will be possible to defeat tumors, the second cause of death globally according to the World Health Organization. However, the survey shows how much there is still to be done on the prevention front: still too many do not join the screening campaigns.
Although 69% of the sample is aware that 40% of cancer cases and 50% of oncological deaths could be avoided by intervening on reducing exposure to risk factors, adopting healthy lifestyles and adhering to programs for early diagnosis, the majority of those interviewed turn to doctors only in the presence of symptoms and do not adhere to screening campaigns. In particular, it is people aged 46 to 59 who are proportionately less attentive to their health: only 46%, against a national average of 52%, underwent a medical check-up in the last year.
“Reading these data, only one out of two Italians has undergone a medical check-up in the last 12 months and even to a lesser extent in the case of cancer screening (14%) – says Alessandra Baldini, medical director of Janssen Italia – It becomes clear a path in close collaboration with scientific partners of excellence, institutions, patient associations and the media is therefore necessary to promote, beyond 4 February, new cancer screening programs and information campaigns on the importance of prevention”.
But it’s still scary and there is a fear of not being able to afford treatment
Again according to the sample interviewed, today only 45% of people with cancer survive an average of 5 years after diagnosis. The figure indicates a still great fear of cancer, considering that in reality, thanks to the availability of increasingly advanced and effective therapies, 5-year survival is 65%.
“The fear for one’s own health and that of one’s loved ones, with the inevitable economic effects, is also affected by the current complex economic situation that the country is experiencing – observe the promoters of the survey – In fact, the survey shows that the cost of living and inflation are considered as worrying as a possible deterioration of one’s health: almost four out of 10 Italians are more afraid than a few years ago of being able to get cancer and, at the same time, the same percentage is more afraid of the possibility of having to face an expense unexpected and therefore not being able to afford the necessary medical care for themselves or for a family member”.
The photograph taken by Ipsos allows us to draw up a ranking of the aspects that Italians consider a priority in life: in first place is health, both physical for 86% and mental for 87%; other aspects follow such as family (83%), love (70%), work (69%), economic well-being (65%), entertainment (44%) and finally success, important only for 27% of respondents. “The pandemic – reads a Janssen note – has certainly been complicit in strengthening the centrality of the health system and related issues in aspects of people’s lives: 82% of people say they have full confidence in science and its application in the medical field, even if there are shortcomings and areas for improvement, including the reduction of waiting times to undergo visits and examinations at the regional level”.
Baldini (Janssen), ‘mission to make it a thing of the past’
What sees the Italians trusting in an imminent defeat of cancer is for Baldini “an interesting fact that confirms great faith in the progress of research and in the new treatments being developed in the onco-haematological field”. However, as the theme of this World Cancer Day, i.e. ‘Close the Care Gap’, recalls, “everyone deserves to have access to cancer prevention, assistance and treatment programs and for this reason – underlines the company – it is fundamental insist on awareness-raising initiatives and projects and on the importance of prevention, also speaking to young people, as proposed by the ‘J Factor’ project, promoted by Janssen Italia and the Digital World Foundation and aimed at high schools throughout Italy”.
“Creating a better future in which diseases are a thing of the past is Janssen’s mission – Baldini continues – an ambitious direction towards exceptional goals that scientific progress can achieve. Let’s think, for example, of the development of advanced and innovative therapies, such as Car-T or gene therapy Our commitment in the search for innovative drugs for the treatment of solid and blood tumors has been going on for over 30 years with the aim of arriving at processes of early interception of the disease and being able to have in the oncological field increasingly targeted and effective therapies”.
“In Janssen – concludes the medical director – we believe cooperation with institutions, at national and regional level, to be fundamental in order to promote ever more equitable access to treatment throughout Italy and for this reason we work with all the interlocutors of the system, from public bodies to private ones, to keep investments high in the sector and in the country, in research and technological innovation, to lay the foundations for a better and sustainable future for the new generations”.
